  Last Tuesday the Nordic Orienteering Tour continued with the second stage in Stockholm. The race was a new format with a Knockout Sprint.
The Qualification was a normal sprint course from the University at Djurgården. I did a quite good race, and came 8th, 35 sec behind Matthias Müller.
The 30 best qualified to the Quarterfinals’ from the same place a few hours later. The 2 best from each of the 5 heats (pluss 2 best times) qualified for the semifinal. I was in a strong quarterfinal heat, and everybody was starting hard. To the 4th control I took the route choice to the right, and lost 10 seconds to Hertner, Öberg and Haldin. To the 8th control I took different from Hertner and Öberg, and was able to pass them, but when I also took different to the 9th control I was again behind them. The finish was really hard, and I was able to finish as 2nd runner, on the same second as Hertner and Haldin.
  Before the Semifinals’ we got a few hours rest and moved to Gamla Stan (Old Town) in the middle of Stockholm. All runners in my heat was again starting really fast, and I was last most of the race. After the map change I was able to pass 3 runners, and could finish as 3rd runner, only 1 sec behind Hertner and Lysell. Luckily my time was good enough to still qualify for the final.
In the Final I got a better start, and was 2nd in the begging of the race, behind Herter who was running fast in the lead. I took a different route choice a few places, but was still a few meters behind him. Before the map change I gave a few seconds gap to Hertner, and was passed by Lysell and Gonon. I had hoped to be able to advance in the end, like in the semifinal, but I was too tired. To the last control I again took a different route choice, but was still on the same place, and could finish as 4th runner, 9 sec behind Hertner.
Results and splits from Qual, Quaterfinal, Semifinal and Final
I think the concept with Knockout sprint worked well, and can be developed further. Even without forking most of the runners (al least in my heats) was choosing different routes where it was possible. But it was really tough with 4 races in one day, and I needed several days with only short and easy training to recover.
Web-TV, NRK.no 22nd June
Må bli enda «råere», Adressa 23rd June |
The Norwegian team for the World Orienteering Championship in Trondheim was today presented, and I am selected to run the sprint. I had of course hoped to run more distances, and had also focused on long and relay in my preparation for the season. But I was not running good enough in the selection races, and can now fully focus on my favourite distance in the last preparations. Several Norwegians are running good at the moment, and I think we have a really strong team on all distances for the championship on home ground.
